Skipper&Marlene: Seeking Privacy
by Sandrei20
Summary: Skipper and Marlene are really fond of each other. And both of them are desperately looking forward for five minutes of privacy but they are being constantly interrupted by their friends and random persons.Rate and comment, pleaaaase!
1. Chapter 1

_These are just some of my ideas of how Marlene and Skipper try to get closer to each other but they constantly fail to do so because of other peoples/animal's intervention. Some of them are doing it subconsciously, some of them with full, malicious premeditation (aka Frankie the Pigeon). The inspiration came rapidly.. teheh. I hope you'll enjoy it. Here's the first chapter_

Chapter one: Frankie the Pigeon is back!

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The training was over, so Skipper decided to take his comrades and Marlene for a stroll in the park. Fifteen minutes later, as they were sitting and sunbathing on a wooden bench, Private came up with the idea of buying some snowcones for the whole group.

"All right then, you wait for me here, and I will go and fetch you some lovely snowcones" said Kowalski. "Marlene, would you please take care of my clipboard while I'm off? " he asked, putting his writing stuffs on the desk.

Marlene nodded in silence and took a quick glance at Skipper. He was sitting right next to her, gazing somewhere far in the distance.

"Looks like he's daydreaming" she stated in her thoughts. She noticed his left flipper was balled into fist and shaking convulsively. Hadn't it been for Rico and Private..

"Why can't they go all together?" she thought. "All of them.. except of my commando.."

"So once again" said Kowalski. "Strawberry one for Rico and Banana one for Private.."

"I want a blackcurrant one, not strawberry one!" protested Private, frowning his eyebrows in annoyance.

"Ee?" gasped Kowalski, evidently puzzled.

"I told you on our way to the park, I want a double portion of strawberry snowcones!" said Private.

"Honestly, Kowalski, you really are a great scientist and mathematician, but when it comes to such awfully simple matters, like buying snowcones for your best chums.."

"Erm, erm!" coughed Kowalski, frowning his eyebrow at Private.

"Why all this rage , Private?" he asked.

"We've sent you to buy us some snowcones once" said Private. "And I asked for cherry one and you bought me a cranberry instead! It was so goddamned awful.."

Marlene shot a quick glance at Skipper but he didn't seem to bother much about his comrade's argue. He just gazed at Kowalski, at Private then again at Kowalski, as if waiting impatiently for the outcome of the quarrel.

One minute later:

"Fine! Since it's too risky to send you alone, I guess I have no other choice but to keep you company!"stated Private, folding his arms violently.

"Arbraghta!" remarked Rico loudly and jumped down on the bench right after Private.

Kowalski just sent them a glare but said nothing. They didn't feel like kicking another row in front of a woman so they politely waited for the right moment to start their quarrel again, away from Skipper and Marlene. A soon as they had found themselves far away enough, the whole bantering stuff continued.

"And I'm gonna buy myself an extra large portion with a peanut butter winky cream on the top of it!" cried Private as they were fading away in the distance.

"Excellante! I love you, Private" said Skipper in his thoughts, his heart pounding like crazy.

"Dear me, Private is really something when it comes to snowcones" muttered Marlene, guiding the three penguins with her look. She then realized there were only two of them on the bench. Just as each one of them had secretly wished. Marlene blushed slightly and pressed Kowalski's clipboard hard against her chest.

"You should have seen him two weeks ago when Rico accidently bumped against him and spilled his snowcone on the floor" remarked Skipper and let out a short laugh. "That was a hell of a scene."

He then stole a quick glance at Kowalski's clipboard Marlene was squeezing against her chest.

"Easy Marlene, there is a very little chance for somebody to steal it away" smiled Skipper and rested his sapphire blue eyes on her green ones. Marlene released her grip and dropped the clipboard on her knees, her heart pounding like crazy. This sapphire blue ocean, full of unsolved mysteries.. it made her legs melt.

"Is it just a delusion or did he really moved a little bit closer?" thought Marlene, checking the distance between herself and her penguin friend. Yup, he was definitely closer right now. Resting his head on the back of the bench, watching over her in silence, delicate smile resting on his beak.

Marlene wriggled uncomfortably and leaned slightly over him. Much to her surprise, Skipper made the same gesture in the same time. She saw his right flipper moving slowly towards her arm….

Suddenly he heard someone's high pitched voice, voice he felt strangely familiar with.

"Here comes the payback for my wayback!"

As he heard these ominous words, he made a rush at Marlene and they both fell on the ground in a crumpled heap. A split of seconds later, Frankie the Pigeon's doody landed on the bench with a soft "plop" noise. Bird's vulgar curse whisked the air.

Marlene goggled at the pigeon, then turned her eyes on her partner who was collecting himself from the ground, violent blush leaking on his cheeks.

Skipper straightened himself up and gritted his beak, sparks of anger glittered in his sapphire blue eyes.

"Didn't see that coming, eh? But just you wait till next time!" cried Frankie the Pigeon, waving his wings in frustration. "I'mma repay you for spoiling my mission with Commisioner's Suie! Till next time!"

Skipper let out a bark, pulled out the sling from his left pocket, then turned around and aimed a plastic ball at Frankie the Pigeon. Marlene let out a silent giggle as the target collided with Frankie's feathery bum.

"Ouchies!" Frankie the Pigeon was just about to attack, but when his eyes met Skipper's raging look he had second thoughts and decided to withdraw. He dived somewhere between the tree branches and vanished from their sight.

Before they had a chance to comment on this nasty event, Rico, Kowalski and Rico appeared on the horizon.

Skipper gripped his flippers tight, then dropped his head and let out a resigned sigh. A sudden wave of anger and frustration took over Marlene's body. But she knew she had to be very cautious with showing her emotions in front of the team. They were smart guys.

"Multiflavoured snowcone for you, Marlene" said Private cheerfully and handed her the snack.

"Thanks, Private" answered Marlene, accepting the snowcone. The sight of Private's childish, smiling face made her feel a little better tough. Why should she hold grudge against this cute little fellow? It wasn't his fault after all.

She recalled Frankie the Pigeon's devious smile and bit her lip.

So close.. and so far away….


	2. Chapter 2: In the Supermarket

Chapter 2: In the Supermarket

Kowalski made a nervous circle and glanced once again at the nearest shelf. His favourite "Malado" popcorn was nowhere to be seen. He cursed silently under his beak , grabbed his pen and crossed out two cans of tuna from the shopping list.

Private was wriggling uncomfortably in his baby seat, struggling to reach a megapack of Peanut Butter Winkies, while Rico was busy searching for some Dolly Food nearby.

"Rico, stop messing around!" barked Kowalski, immensely irritated, as the second tallest penguin accidently knocked against a pile of green cans, standing in the corner. He then went back to his shopping list and scanned it.

"Four frozen catfish pizzas, two packs of catfish coffee… Damn, I should warn Skippa about this last one.. he can't imagine a day without three cups of a catfish coffee! I'm afraid its gonna leave a bad mark on his health someday. By the way, where is he?"

Skipper and Marlene were in the most remote part of the Supermarket, watching over a big shopping trolley, standing in front of the magazine store. It was completely empty except of some paper advertisements wallowing in the corner.

"You know what, Skipper, I've always wanted to have a ride inside one" confessed Marlene.

Naughty smile leaked on Skipper's beak.

"Well there's your chance, sister" he remarked. "I can push you if you want."

"But are you sure…? I mean... If we got caught by someone or if.."

"Nonsense" Skipper shook his head. "The supermarket is almost empty and the whole staff is having a coffee party in the store right now. Took a peek through the window. No one will even notice. Come on, let's have some fun!"

Before she had a chance to reply, he picked her up with his strong flippers and placed her on the edge of the trolley. He himself jumped up on the other side, grabbed the bar and kicked with his foot off of the floor.

"Here we go!" he cried as the trolley started to roll forwards.

A violent wave of fresh air brushed against Marlene's face. It was a nice feeling but she was still a little bit afraid.

"Skipper, do you know how to turn?" she cried against the whistle of the air.

"Of course I do, sista!" replied Skipper. There was a violent jerk and Skipper turned the trolley on the left. Then he suddenly let go of the bar, made a triple salto in the air and landed right behind Marlene. She felt his flippers wrapping her wrists tightly.

"Now we're riding together!" he cried, joy and excitement written all over his face. Having Skipper so close to herself, Marlene's heart started to pound so rapidly as if it was about to explode.

Skipper embraced her even tightly and moved his head towards Marlene's.

There was a sudden ramble. Marlene and Skipper turned their heads in surprise. The leader penguin let out a loud moan and pressed his flipper against his forehead.

"Ringtaaaaaaaaaaaail!"

"Heheee! Now that's what I call reaaal fun! King Julien wants some fun!" cried the tallest lemur, stretching his arms out. He was sitting in the middle of the trolley, waving his tail like a crazy.

"I'm gonna kill him someday!" thought Marlene and Skipper at the same time.

"Now where is it we're going, ha?" asked King Julien, watching over his fingertips. "Could you please turn the trolley towards the Lemur's Food section? I guess I've run out of coconuts again.

"Skipper, the popcorn, look out!" cried Marlene, without paying attention to her uninvited guest.

Before Skipper had a chance to pull over, they crashed against a pyramid of popcorn buckets.

Kowalski raised his head up from the clipboard and glanced forward.

"THERE IT IS!" he cried in a high pitched voice and rushed towards the other end of the section. He grabbed one of the buckets in his hands and kissed it passionately. "I've been searching for you for half an hour!" he exclaimed, pressing the bucket against his chest. Then he took a quick look around and spotted his three friends, wallowing in spilled popcorn.

Skipper collected himself from the ground, pretty big bruise marking his left cheek. He leaned over and help Marlene up, then turned around and shot a murderous glance at the King of Lemurs, who was wolfing down popcorn, cheery and careless as always.

"Well, seems like we've got everything we need, already" stated Kowalski. "So I guess it's the highest time to go home for supper."

Marlene nodded her head submissively. She then turned towards Skipper and tenderly moved her finger across his bruise, worry and concern written all over her face.

"We'll take care of this at home" she said to him in a barely audible whisper.


	3. Chapter 3: Babysitting Mort

Chapter 3: Babysitting Mort

„I just can't believe it. I've finally got to spend some free time with Skipper! And there are only two of us!" thought Marlene with delight as she was strolling with the leader penguin through the park.

"It's been a long time since we had such a beautiful weather" said Skipper, breaking the silence. "When I only think about my comrades sitting in front of the TV and wolfing down popcorn.. well" he chuckled. "It's their choice. They have the right to spend their free time as they please".

"At least they're not disturbing us" he added up in his thoughts and got a few inches closer to Marlene. The otter felt his flipper scuffing against her fur delicately and shivered.

"No, Mort, that's enough! I'm totally sick of your babbling! Why won't you go and torture somebody else, hah?"

Skippers face fell when he heard Ringtail's high pitched voice. He knew what was it about to announce. King Julien came along, with Mort glued to his left foot as usual.

"Why won't you do something about it, ha?" he cried to the couple, shaking his leg in fury. But Mort was clutching him tightly.

Marlene and Skipper exchanged mouthful looks.

"Why won't you take care of this little monster for a couple of hours, so I can enjoy my manicure in peace! Take him to the park or whatever! I have to prepare myself for my date!

Skipper goggled his eyes out in shock.

"You.. you have a date?"

"Yes…! For the first time since seven years! A girl has finally turned her attention on me! You realize how much does it mean to me, well? Do you?" he stared at the couple with his eyes wide open.

Skipper thought for a while. Marlene let out a sigh. They somehow understood King Julien's frustration. But they also knew what exactly was he up to. He wanted them to babysit Mort, so he could prepare for his date in peace.

"All right, Ringtail. We'll take him" he relented and reached his flippers for Sad Eyes. "Com'ere Soldier. How about a little stroll to the park?"

"Yupeeee!" on hearing this, Mort immediately let go of King Julien's foot, leaped towards Skipper and threw himself on his neck.

"I will pick him up at five o'clock okay?" said King Julien. "So .. bye bye Mort, have a nice day and try not to mess around too much!" before Mort had a chance to respond, the tallest lemur dashed quickly down the path and vanished from their sight.

"I know! Let's play hide and seek!" said Mort five minutes later, as they entered the park . "You to go and hide somewhere, and after I count up to 50 I will try to find you okay?"

"Ermm… okay, okay, that's a good idea!" cried Skipper and Marlene and nodded their heads with alacrity. They smiled at each other and discreetly knocked their fists when Mort wasn't watching. That meant at least five minutes of privacy.

They placed Mort in front of the tree and walked away, menacing greens leaking on their faces. Mort turned his head away and stared at the couple. Seeing them walking arm by arm he cried out loud:

"No way, mates! I want both of you to hide in two different places! Otherwise it would be no fun! Skipper goes left and Marlene goes right!" he ordered, his childish voice sounding stern and decisive.

Marlene and Skipper let out an irritated: "Oh,meeeh!" whisper and reluctantly split up.

Mort turned his head against the trunk, clasped his eyes with his paws and started to count.

Marlene cocooned herself somewhere in the bushes and rested her back against the tree trunk. She let out a big sigh. Will they ever get the chance? No matter how hard would they try, there would be always something on their way.

Suddenly she felt her left pocket shaking from vibrations. She jumped up in shock . The mobile!

She pulled it out and checked the message.

"_**Already forgot about this solution, sista?;)"**_ the message said.

She sighed with relief and quickly texted him back.

"**You clever commando, you! XD. Where are you hiding?"**

The answer came shortly after.

"**I'm sitting in a small cavern near the playground. I guess it will take some time for Sad Eyes to find me here. "**

"**I'm camping in the bushes. Watching over the sky, wolfing down blackcurrants and.."**

"**And what?:)"**

Marlene squeezed the mobile phone in her hands and took a deep breath. Should she? Or should she not? Will she regret it? But if not now.. then when?

"Now come oon, don't be a coward!" she said to herself. She placed her paws on the buttons and started to compose another message.

"**And thinking about y.."**

"Gotchya!" cried Mort, jumping from behind the nearest tree. Marlene let out a short shriek, dropped her mobile and jumped up in the air, her heart pounding like crazy. A sudden wave of anger and frustration bathed her body from the inside. For a split of second she felt like straggling him to death, but she quickly cooled down, at the sight of Mort's childish, joyful face.

Scarcely had they picked Skipper up from the cave it started to rain.

"It's already five o'clock, we should be going home anyway" stated Skipper looking at the watch.

Twenty minutes later, they walked Mort back to the lemur habitat, where Maurice took care of him.

"Is King Julien already off?" asked Marlene, taking a discreet peek around the habitat.

"Yup. His Majesty left five minutes ago" nodded Maurice. The whole air was soaked with a strong coconut eau de cologne scent.

They left the habitat and made their way towards the pond. They sat on the wooden bench, and relaxed.

"Some peace at last." Sighed Skipper, watching over the sky. "I didn't know Mort could be that absorbing. "

"He's in that age, you know.." replied Marlene. " He needs everyone's attention, likes to babble a lot, he's very curious and inquisitive of the world.."

"Can't blame him for that, indeed" said Skipper. "Actually he is a very cute, little guy."

There was a moment of pause between them. Skipper placed his flipper on Marlene's hand. Her heart sank. They turned to face each other and then..

"Mack mack.. mack mack!" they heard some loud kissing noises echoing above their heads.

Ringtail and Darla were sitting on the tallest branch, exchanging passionate kisses.

Skipper pressed his flipper to his forehead. Marlene hid her face in her paws.

"Teheeh!" Ringtail leaned across the tree branch, absolutely nonplussed with the fact those two had caught them in their intimate moment. "She really is a good kisser, ya know? "

"I'm gonna barf in a minute" muttered Skipper, his face turning all greenish.


	4. Chapter 4: In the Hospital

Chapter 4: In the Hospital

Marlene woke up with a start and banged her head against the rock ceiling. Ominous corridors, unbearable, piercing coldness, blazing white walls, unpleasant smell of disinfecting liquids.. and then.. Skipper's painful scream, whisking through the air. It was so heart-rending it gave her violent chills and brought tears in her eyes.

She scrambled out of her bedsheets and leaped towards the entrance. Several seconds later she found herself in penguin's HQ. She took a quick glance around. Rico, Private and Kowalski weren't asleep. They were gathered around the table, their faces sorrow, their silhouettes humped and somewhat painful.

"Guys, guys, what happened?" she cried out, her heart pounding like crazy. But before she'd asked the question, she already knew the answer. Skipper's absence and his comrades' physical condition made everything crystal clear – something bad happened to the leader penguin.

"Skipper has been rushed to the hospital too hours ago." Explained Kowalski after a long while of unbearable silence. "He has a warm."

Marlene filled the box with all sorts of chocolates and sweets, added up some oranges, coconuts and pears. Next day, she ate her breakfast in rush, grabbed the package, sneaked out of the zoo and made her way towards the hospital. The rest of the team couldn't keep her company. They had to entertain a large group of kids from New Jersey, although it was the last thing they felt like doing after all these unpleasant events which took place last night. They planned to pay him a visit at seven o'clock p.m.

Thank God, there wasn't a single soul to be seen around. But as she made her way through the deserted corridor, she kept glancing back behind herself, listening carefully to every single sound. She looked up at the second door on the left. Yup. She made it! It's here.

She kicked the door with her left foot and came inside. Skipper was lying motionless in his bed, white cloth resting on his forehead. As he heard Marlene coming, he raised his neck from the pillow. On recognizing his best friend, he forced himself to the sitting position although still in pain and waved his flipper towards her.

"Guess, what I've got for you" smiled Marlene, pulling the box from behind her back. There was a loud bang. Marlene let out a shriek and fell backwards. Ringtail popped out of the box all of a sudden.

"Teeeeeheeeh! Didn't see that coming, eh? Didn't expect your King to pay you a visit?" he cried.

Skipper just sat in his bedsheets with his beak wide open, his eyes goggled out in shock.

"Ringtail, for God's sake! How did you get in there?" stared Marlene, collecting herself from the floor.

"I sneaked into your habitat at night and hid inside the box, of course. Nothing more simple, my lady!" replied King Julien involuntarily before paying his attention back to Skipper.

"And there is nothing else you want me to say?"

"Now come on, what's wrong with paying a visit to a sick friend?" muttered King Julien , watching over his perfectly manicured fingertips.

Marlene took a deep breath but said nothing. Skipper stared down at this white blanket.

She didn't feel like kicking a row. She found this kind of behavior really uncalled for, no matter how much frustrated and annoyed she would be.

Meanwhile Ringtail grabbed an orange, jumped out of the box and leaped towards Skipper's bed.

"Why won't you try this tasty lil orange, I'm telling you, it's fantastic!" he said. " I've already wolfed one down on my way to the hospital".

"You did WHAT?" gasped Marlene, watching at the lemur with fury.

Skipper waved his flipper and gave her a mouthful look as if saying: "It's okay, Marlene. Don't scold on him".

"But first I should find you something sharp for the orange to cut" stated Ringtail and took a thorough look around. "Hey, how about this cupboard. It seems to be full of various stuffs. Maybe I will find some kind of a knife or whatever.."

Just as Ringtail had locked himself inside the cupboard, Marlene walked up to Skipper's bed. They both watched each over for a couple of seconds in silence.

"Feeling any better?" she asked, worry and concern written all over her face. "I dreamt about you last night.. You were getting a shot."

"Well.. I got it yesterday" said Skipper. "The pain was unbearable but at least the infection ceased afterwards.

Marlene felt her lips trembling. She glanced back behind herself to make sure that Ringtail was still messing around inside the cupboard; she then threw her arms around Skipper's neck, and embraced him, carefully though not to give him much pain.

"I just can't wait for you to go back to the zoo. It's so empty there without you" she sobbed, bitter tears soaking in Skipper's hospital bedsheets. Skipper muttered some soothing words and stroked her gently on the head, his moves slow and calm.

"As soon as they bring me back to the zoo, I will take you to the park" he said. "And we're going to have some extra portions of multiflavoured snowcones. I promise."

On hearing Ringtail scrambling out of the cupboard, Marlene reluctantly moved apart from her penguin friend and sat on the edge of the bed, wiping her eyes in rush. She then jumped down to collect some chocolate bars and fruits wallowing hereabouts on the floor.

"Teheeh! I didn't find the knife but I've found something else! "said King Julien proudly, stretching his hand with a small yoyo toy in front of Marlene's nose.

Suddenly they heard Alice's voice echoing all over the corridor. Marlene realized it was a sign for both of them to scoot as fast as possible.

"I'm gonna put this box under your bed so that Alice wouldn't notice. "she said quickly. She then leaped towards the open window, Ringtail following her. Before jumping off of the window sill, she turned around, looked once again at the leader penguin and sent him a kiss in the air.

By the time Alice and Doctor Sean arrived by Skipper's bedside, Marlene and King Julien had already left the hospital areas. Skipper immediately closed his eyes shut, faking sleep.

"Well, what do you think about his condition, dock?" asked Alice, watching over the penguin. "Is it already time for him to leave the hospital?"

"I guess he should stay for two more days, just in case." Answered the doctor, checking Skipper's pulse.

Skipper balled his flipper into fist under his bedsheets and felt his eyes turning all watery. He was doing the most of himself to prevent his beak from trembling.

"Dear Lord.. please bring me back to health. I can't wait to see my little dollface again.."


	5. Chapter 5: In the Park

Chapter 5: In the park

It was a beautiful, sunny day in the park. Kowalski, Rico and Private were playing console games inside their HQ. Thus, Skipper and Marlene had some time for themselves.

"Just waiting for somebody to spoil our day" muttered Marlene to herself.

„Sweet Mother McArthur, these cherries are really, really good!" stated Skipper, while picking fruits from the branches and thrusting them in his beak one after one. "I simply can't stop wolfing them down. Hey, Marlene, why won't you try?"

Marlene sent him a timid look.

"Are you absolutely sure I can? I mean, I've never ever tasted a cherry before and I don't know how my system would react.."

"Don't worry sista. I assume you, they won't make you any harm." Smiled Skipper. "Trust me". He waddled up to Marlene, his right flipper holding a cherry. "Come on, try it".

He slowly reached his wing towards Marlene's lips. Marlene giggled nervously, opened her mouth and was just about to consume the fruit when they both heard Alice's loud laughter, bouncing off the trees. Several seconds later, a male voice said:

"Don't you go away, my little bee, the real game is just about to start!"

Skipper goggled his eyes out and dropped his cherry on the ground. They turned their heads back towards the forest to localize the source of these noises. A while later, they saw Alice, needling her way through the bushes, a tall, dark haired man in his late thirties keeping her company. She had a violent blush on her face, her eyes were glittering from joy and excitement.

Skipper and Marlene said nothing, but their mouthful looks expressed exactly the same: "It's time to scoot". They dashed down the hill, and jumped in the bushes.

"I'm not so sure If I would like to watch the rest of this game" muttered Skipper, cleaning Marlene's fur from leaves and branches.

"Do you think it was her boyfriend?"

"I suppose so. In fact it was the first time I saw Alice smiling. " said the leader Penguin. "She seemed to be so happy and serene. Very unlike her usual self".

"Yeah, you're absolutely right. As far as I live in this zoo, I've never seen her with a guy before. It's really nice to have such a close person beside you. Someone who cares, who sacrifices time, who is always there for you, in sickness and in health".

She paused for a while and dropped her head. Suddenly she felt Skipper's flipper raising her chin delicately upwards. She looked straight into his sapphire blue eyes, eyes, that would always remind her of an ocean, beautiful, deep ocean, full of unsolved mysteries. Skipper himself was shrouded in mystery.

A warm smile leaked on his beak.

"Well… I guess both of us are really lucky in this matter" he stated.

Marlene felt pleasant shivers marching up and down her spine. Meanwhile, Skipper's flipper moved slowly from her chin towards her cheek. Suddenly, her delicate lips distorted in a painful grimace.

"What is it, sister?" asked Skipper, watching over his friend with anxiety.

"Skippa… the ants!" she uttered, tears forming up in her eyes. "There are loads of them here!"

And she started to scratch herself like a crazy, trying to get rid of the ants. Skipper also felt one or two of them climbing up his back. He shrugged them off with one move.

"They must have an ant-hill nearby! "stated Marlene. The itching was becoming unbearable. "What shall we do?"

"Water, water!" answered Skipper, wriggling uncomfortably to and fro. " We have to dive in the nearest pond! I guess it's the only way for us to get rid of these monsters!"

"Ayeyae, Skipper!" nodded Marlene and they both scrambled out of the bushes and dashed towards the pond.

"Aaahh… isn't it just wonderful!" said Marlene, rubbing her ants-free arms with joy.

"By all mean it is, sista" agreed Skipper. "Now that the itching is gone… what shall we do next? Shall we stay in the pond and have a swim?"

"Yeah, that's a very good idea! It's been ages since I was swimming in the pond."

They had been swimming together for about fifteen minutes, always keeping the close distance of 50 centimeters between themselves. Suddenly, Marlene spotted Skipper's left wing stretching slowly towards her hand. They both stopped at the same time. The leader penguin wrapped his flipper around her wrist and pulled her closely to himself, so that she found herself almost pressed against his muscular chest.

"This is the perfect moment for both of us" she stated. "Who could possibly oversee us here?"

But before she had a chance to place her paws on Skipper's shoulders, she saw panic in his sapphire blue eyes. He was gazing somewhere far above her head. Suddenly he shrugged, grabbed her arm and dragged her up towards the surface.

"Skipper, what's the matter?" asked Marlene, both shocked and worried. Skipper was deadly pale on his face. He looked as he was going to barf in a second.

"Do you feel alright?" she asked.

"I'm… I'm.. absolutely fine, it's just that .. Oh God!" he pressed his flippers against his face and let out a painful moan. "Marlene, I forgot to tell you, that Kowalski had installed four disguised cameras inside the pond."

"Why on earth would he do that?" gasped Marlene.

"It's all because of some unique kind of a fish that appears in the pond every once in a while. He spotted it three months ago. From that time onwards he's gone completely insane about it. That's what he needed these cameras for. He can scan the pond without moving his tail from the lab. You know Kowalski, he's that specific kind…"

"Yes, I know. I truly understand, Skipper" nodded Marlene. Then she froze again. "But .. do you want me to say that.. we might have been caught?"

"There is a chance he had his camera switched off for the time of our swim" muttered Skipper. "But I'm not going to stay calm until I go and check it myself".

"I will go with you" decided Marlene.

They sneaked inside Kowalski's lab and walked up towards the table. Kowalski was sleeping in front of his desk, his head resting on his white clipboard.

"Now, let us check" muttered Skipper against his comrade's load snoring. He entered the system and scanned through each video clip. Fortunately enough, nothing had been found. Skipper and Marlene both sighed with relief. Skipper leaned his back against the cold wall and raised his eyes at Marlene.

"I really can't think of any over places which could guarantee at least five minutes of privacy" he said quietly. "The whole world seems to by spying on us".

"Yeah, I'm getting totally sick of it" agreed Marlene. There was a note of frustration and pain in her voice.

"But we won't give up that easily sister" added Skipper, stroking Marlene's cheek. " We're going to find the solution, sooner or later. Just you wait".

Suddenly, their faces fell. They looked at each other, their eyes goggled out.

"Kowalski might be faking sleep!" they told each other in their thoughts and immediately flew out of the lab.


	6. Chapter 6: AT LAST!

"Is something bothering you?" asked the Old Squirrel, when seeing Skipper's gloomy expression. The leader penguin was sitting inertly on a wooden bench, his face sorrow and in pain, his look fixed somewhere far in the distance.

Skipper sighed deeply and squeezed his flippers into fists.

"I gradually start to lose my hope" he muttered. He didn't feel like giving his secret away. This was his private matter. His and Marlene's. "I feel grounded."

There was a moment of pause between them.

"Tell me, why is this so, that no matter how hard I tried, I would always fail? Just as if the whole world had turned against me!"

„ If you really want to do something, you will succeed, sooner or later. All you have to do is to keep up your strong will. Trust me, young Man" said the Old Squirrel, smiling mysteriously under her nose. She was a very polite woman and it was very unlike her, to ask indiscreet questions.

She then raised her head up and listened carefully.

"My great grand children are calling me. I'd better go now. Wish you good luck" she said before jumping off of the bench. "And remember what I've just told you" she smiled mysteriously and leaped towards the tree hole.

Marlene pressed her favorite, yellow blanket against her face and dropped a tear. She had been lying in her bed for three hours, daydreaming about her beloved commando Penguin. "Why is this life so cruel?" she sobbed against her blanket. "Why can't we have five minutes for ourselves. Skipper spends most of his time doing other peoples biding. We both have to entertain visitors day after day, smiling and waving, even if we're not in the mood. People seem to forget that we, animals also have feelings!"

It was the first time for Skipper to deal with sleeping disturbances, frustration, anger and despair ripping his heart apart. After an hour of uncomfortable wriggling to and fro, he finally dozed off to sleep. He found himself near the pond. And he saw Marlene approaching him from the other side.

Marlene couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't expect to meet him that late in the night. What was SHE doing here anyway? She had this strange feeling all of this couldn't take place in real life. But Skipper seemed absolutely real. Moreover, he also seemed to be surprised with her presence.

"Marlene?" he uttered, as if not believing his eyes. "Where are the others?"

"I don't know.." whispered Marlene. "The whole zoo seems to be completely deserted. As I walked past the habitats, I couldn't spot any single animal inside. Not even the lemurs, who usually sleep in the open air. I wonder, where have they all gone?"

"Perhaps they're having a secret, underground meeting" smiled Skipper. He made several steps forward. There was a short pause.

Night was cold and silent. There wasn't a single soul around, and the whole park was bathed in complete darkness.

Marlene gulped loudly and rubbed her cold arms.

"Skipper…" she started and stopped short as if too afraid to finish the question.

"Yes, dollface?"

"Is this our …. Dream?" she uttered, her heart pounding like crazy.

Skipper pressed his flipper against his cheek. Then he looked up the sky. There was a delicate smug of fog, floating up in the air.

"Is it possible for both of us to dream about the same thing in the same time?"

"Certainly seems that way" whispered Skipper, watching over the fog with his eyes wide open. It seemed to grow bigger and bigger.

"So I guess that we finally have the chance to be together for a couple of minutes.." stated Marlene.

Skipper laid her eyes back on her.

"Indeed, Marlene" he said. Marlene walked up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck.

"I think we should make the most of each single second, Skipper" she whispered, looking straight into his beautiful, sapphire blue eyes. "We don't know how long will it last."

"Right you are, Sista" muttered Skipper. "We shouldn't waste our time, then". Just as he said that, he leaned his head and placed a long, passionate kiss on Marlene's lips. Marlene felt a hot wave bathing her body from the inside. She leaned slightly back and returned the kiss. They were so close to each other they felt each other's heartbeat. And no one was there to interrupt their intimate moment. Just as the secretly wished. No cameras, no ant-hills, no devious pigeons, no nosy lemurs, no visitors. They snuggled against each other so tightly as if they wanted to bind their bodies into one.

The sky above their heads started to spin. Stars, clouds, moon, tree branches.. everything melted into one. Marlene felt Skipper loosening his grip. The fog covered everything around. Two seconds later, her lover vanished into thin air, and she found herself lying motionless in her own habitat, her eyes stuck on the ceiling.

"We finally did it" she said to herself, clenching her fist. Five minutes later, she forced herself to leave the bed. There were plenty of visitors outside her habitat, but she didn't give a damn. She would lie in her favorite rock, her eyes stuck somewhere far in the distance. She could hear their disappointed moans.

"Mommy, what's wrong with that otter, is she sick?" a fat boy with freckled face asked.

"Lovesick, my dear child" replied Marlene in her thoughts, and smiled dreamily. She then closed her eyes and spaced out again, reliving Skipper's passionate kiss.

Meanwhile, Skipper was awakening in his bunk. He didn't feel like getting up at all. He would love to stay in bed for the rest of the day, reliving his fantastic dream, he'd just woke up from. But as he opened his eyes, he noticed that his comrades were already up and around, making coffee, preparing breakfast and making their bunks.

"G'day, Skippa!" tweeted Private, cherry and optimistic as usual.

"G'day" muttered Skipper, rubbing his eyelids dreamily. He could still feel Marlene's sweet lips kissing his beak. Finally! After all these days, which would only bring them frustration and pain.

"The Owl was right" he thought to himself as he jumped down on the ground the help Rico with setting the table.

Their dream had finally come true. There were moments when they already started losing hope… But their patience paid. He'd never felt so joyful and serene. There was that new feeling he'd never experienced before. Emotional fulfillment…

He turned to Private and sent him a daydreaming smile. Private gulped at the sight and almost dropped his cup on the ground. He'd never seen his leader grinning to him like that. Skipper definitely wasn't his usual self today.

"Erm.. Skippa.." he chirped, watching over his commando with anxiety and concern. "You feel alright?"

"Never better" mumbled Skipper, his voice dreamy and sleepy. He winked at Private, took his cup and waddled up towards the table.

"Oh dear" gulped Private. "I hope it's not a warm".

THE EEEEEND :D


End file.
